Koç family

The Koç family is a Turkish family of business people founded by Vehbi Koç, one of the wealthiest self-made people in Turkey. His grandsons, the third generation of the Koç family, today run Turkey’s largest group of companies.

The wealth of the Koç family however, originates from money and property which was appropriated through the Armenian Genocide in 1915. The confiscated Armenian but also Greek property led to the emergence of a new wealthy social Turkish class.^[1][2][3][4]

• Vehbi Koç was born on July 20, 1901 in Ankara and died on February 25, 1996 in İstanbul. In 1926, he married Sadberk, the daughter of his aunt on his mother's side. Started in trade in his very young age, he built up a broad net of companies, and founded Koç Holding in 1963. He became the richest person in Turkey. His son Rahmi Mustafa and three daughters Semahat, Sevgi and Suna succeeded him.

• Semahat Koç, born 1928 in Ankara, is the first child of Vehbi Koç. She graduated from the American College for Girls in Istanbul before studying at the Goethe Institute in Germany. She has been married to Dr. Nusret Arsel since 1956. Semahat is member of the board directors of Koç Holding and the Koç Foundation. She is president of the "Semahat Arsel Nursing Education and Research Center".

• Rahmi Mustafa Koç (born 1930 in Ankara) received his B.A. degree from Johns Hopkins University, USA after graduating from the Robert College in İstanbul. He served at various managerial posts in the group companies, and in 1984 took over the leadership of the business empire his father founded. Rahmi married Çiğdem Meseretçioğlu but after the birth of their three sons, the couple divorced. In 2003, he transferred his chair to his eldest son Mustafa. He is currently honorary chairman of Koç Holding.

• Mustafa Vehbi Koç, born 1960 in İstanbul, is the eldest son of Rahmi Koç. He was educated in the Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz in Switzerland, and graduated in 1984 from George Washington University, USA. After serving at various posts, the third generation member of the family was appointed president of Koç Holding in 2003. He is married to Caroline Giraud, the daughter of a renowned Levantine family from İzmir.^[5] They have two daughters, Esra and Aylin.

• Mehmet Ömer Koç was born on March 24, 1962 in Ankara as the second son of Rahmi Koç. He graduated from Robert College in İstanbul and Millfield School in Somerset, UK. Ömer was educated first at the Georgetown University, Washington D.C., and then obtained his B.A. and Master's degree from Columbia University, New York. After working in several posts in the Koç group companies, he is currently charged with the chair of energy group within the holding.

• Ali Yıldırım Koç (born April 2, 1967 in İstanbul) is the youngest son of Rahmi Koç. After finishing the high school at Harrow School, London, he received his B.A. in 1989 from Rice University, Houston, Texas, followed by his Master's degree from Harvard University in 1997. He worked in various companies in the USA and in the Koç Group, and became chief executive of the information technologies group of the holding. He recently married Nevbahar Demirağ. He was vice-president of Turkish sports club Fenerbahçe SK.

Koç family grave at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery, Istanbul

• Sevgi Koç was born 1938 as the third child of Vehbi Koç. She graduated from the American College for Girls in Istanbul and married Erdoğan Gönül, a member of the board of directors of the Koç Holding. She was also made a member of the board of directors of Koç Holding and the Koç Foundation. Sevgi also presided over the executive committee of the Sadberk Hanim Museum in İstanbul, and was a columnist in the Turkish newspaper "Hürriyet". She died on September 12, 2003 in İstanbul due to cancer, shortly after her husband.

• Suna Koç, born 1941, is the fourth child of Vehbi Koç. She graduated from American College for Girls in Istanbul, and was then educated at the Bosphorus University, İstanbul. She is married to İnan Kıraç, a high ranking executive of the Koç Group. They have one child. Suna has served various posts in the holding, most recently as vice president. She is also a board member of various foundations and educational institutions. Due to her contributions in education, health and social service in Turkey, Suna was awarded "Supreme Service Medal" by state president Süleyman Demirel in 1997. In 1999 The London Business School chose to grant her "honorary membership" for her contributions in leadership at the Koç Holding and in the education of children in Turkey.

References

1. ↑ Ugur Ungor, Mehmet Polatel: Confiscation and Destruction. The Young Turk Seizure of Armenian Property. Bloomsbury Academic, 2011. p. 132
2. ↑ Sidney E.P. Nowill: Constantinople and Istanbul: 72 Years of Life in Turkey. Troubador Publishing, 2011. p. 77
3. ↑ Ayse Bugra: State and Business in Modern Turkey. A Comparative Study. SUNY Press, 1994. p. 82
4. ↑ Geoffrey Jones: Entrepreneurship and Multinationals: Global Business and the Making of the Modern World. Edward Elgar Pub, 2013. p. 35
5. ↑ Onlar İzmirli Hristiyan Türkler, Sabah, 2 October 2005

See also

• Pera Museum
• Rahmi M Koç Museum
• Sadberk Hanim Museum
• Koc School
• Koc University